


Bad at Love

by Dan_Francisco



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Gen, LGBTQ Themes, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:14:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24562939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dan_Francisco/pseuds/Dan_Francisco
Summary: Blake has a crush on Ruby Rose, and decides to act on it.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6
Collections: Fanworks Club Monthly Prompts





	Bad at Love

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Fanworks Club Discord's monthly prompts, this time following the LGBTQIA+ genre prompt! Short and simple, because I couldn't figure out how to integrate other prompts.

Blake sighed, a smile on her face as she looked out at Beacon’s grounds. The air was cool, and a cloudless sky greeted her as she threw open the window from her room. In short, it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, just warm enough to be comfortable but not so hot it was stifling. To Blake, it felt like the world was ahead of her and nothing could stop her from doing anything and everything. Today was the day, she decided, and what better way to spend a day free from classes and obligations than to dress up a little, find Ruby, and finally ask her out?

Part of her wondered if Ruby already knew. It was hard for Blake to really put into words how she felt – between her smile, the way she carried herself, and the happy-go-lucky attitude that dominated her life, Blake couldn’t think of any reasons _not_ to like Ruby. It warmed her heart just to think about her, dream about the dates she’d take Ruby on, and have hours-long conversations in her head. And yet, there was always a caution that painted how Blake approached her. She didn’t want to be perceived as needy, or bothering Ruby. But they spent a lot of time around each other anyway, so what was the problem? Sometimes, Blake wondered if she was slowly going insane and doubted her own mind, alternatively declaring everything Ruby had ever done either an unequivocal declaration of love, or just a sign of being friendly that she had grossly misinterpreted. There was no in-between for Blake. Either Ruby was very obviously falling for her, or Blake had just misread every possible sign and was making a mountain out of crumbs.

It took her a few hours to work up the actual courage to say anything. She and Ruby had planned beforehand to spend time with each other hanging out, but every time Blake dared to even consider broaching the subject of an actual _date,_ something conspired to stop them. First it was Yang, descending down on them to announce that their dog, Zwei, had arrived from their house and would be spending the rest of the school year with them. Then it was Jaune, saying smooth things and generally just being a nuisance that only left Blake silently fuming at him, wordlessly telling him off for daring to come after _her_ girl. Next was Weiss, who spent _at least_ an hour talking to Ruby about some sort of homework assignment that they had.

Ultimately though, Blake had finally gotten Ruby alone, in one of Beacon’s gardens and surrounded by the scents and sights that came with it. Woody plants mixed with blooming flowers, and just like Blake had felt from her bedroom window, the cool breeze fluttering past them and shaking the trees that provided a canopy through which filtered the sun enough to give them shade. Occasionally, slits of sunlight from the leaves shot through, catching on Ruby’s hair and highlighting her beautiful face that shined with every smile that Blake brought to it, joking and carrying on like nothing had ever changed.

Maybe after this, nothing ever would, and they’d transition into a relationship just like a pair of shoes.

Blake swallowed hard, trying very hard to keep her own smile on as she prepared to do what might be the best or worst move of her life. “So, uh, Ruby…”

“Yeah?” Ruby asked, drawing a sketch in her notebook.

“I… I wanted to ask you something.”

Ruby looked up, putting her pencil into the spiral of the notebook and giving Blake her undivided attention. “Okay! What’s up?”

Trying to still her rapidly beating heart – it really wasn’t working, but it was a valiant effort regardless – Blake took a deep breath, stretching her hands out as if that’d help her any. “I… really like you, Ruby. And I… I wanted to take you out, so… maybe we could get some… coffee or something? Like, next week?”

The air went still, and though it was subtle, Blake could see the smile slowly fade away from Ruby’s face. She stared back at Blake with those silver eyes of hers, which up until that moment Blake thought held the secrets to love and life itself but now just had the look of regret painted in them.

“Oh… well,” Ruby said quietly. “Uh, Blake, I’m… very flattered you think that, but…”

Blake’s own smile crept away, scurried more like, and as if she had just thrown a brick in the lake her heart sank into the deepest, darkest pit of her stomach. She felt her eyebrows rise up, afraid of what was coming next, because _nobody_ ever heard these words from Blake and said _that_ without also saying “I don’t like you like that.” Not _once_ in her life did Blake remember hearing those words from anyone, and unfortunately, she believed Ruby would be no different.

“I’m sorry Blake,” Ruby said, genuine remorse in her voice. “I just don’t think of you like that.”

 _And there it was,_ Blake thought. She felt as if Ruby had just taken a sledgehammer to her chest, shattering every part of her heart into a million pieces. She paused, numb. Sure, Blake had heard this before, had almost come to expect it from people, but that sure as hell didn’t make it hurt any less. It never prepared her for feeling like someone had just ripped her heart out and stomped on it. Blake pretended to check the time on her Scroll, as if she had just been reminded of something. “Okay, well… I have to go do… something. Um, I’ll talk to you later, Ruby.”

She headed back to her dorm silently, ignoring everyone she came across. Thousands of questions she had for Ruby, if she’d ever answer them, ran through her head. _Did I rush you? Were you smothered by me? Is it just my face? Do you just not like girls? Did I say something wrong?_

Of course, the largest question was one she was never sure she would ever ask anyone, or was really even certain if she wanted an _answer_ to, weighed on her the most.

_Is there something wrong with me?_

Blake returned to her dorm to find it empty. Everything in here that reminded her of Ruby was just another jab into her heart, a deepening wound that no doctor could ever heal. Her music couldn’t help her – every time she closed her eyes to get lost in the lyrics, Ruby’s face showed up. Her books weren’t much better. Stories about love and romance came alive when she replaced the characters with herself and Ruby, imaging them as the beautiful lovestruck leads lost among the cosmos and battlefields, but now they just felt empty and hollow, like cardboard cutouts crudely painted to represent the emotions she had felt. Even just _glancing_ at Ruby’s haphazard and chaotic solution to creating a bunk bed felt like a personal attack on her at this point.

Eventually, Blake just decided to lie in bed, covering her eyes with her arms, hair, hands and anything that presented itself as a viable solution. She felt sick, honestly, and she hated the part of herself that came up whenever rejection reared its ugly head. Blake _knew_ she always got too attached too quickly. She always got caught up in her own feelings that she never considered whether whoever she had fallen for that week even looked at her in a remotely similar light. Maybe she was just looking at it wrong. Maybe it was more like… Blake was blue, and Ruby was red, and together they’d make purple, and Ruby had just decided that purple wasn’t for her.

Honestly, it didn’t much make her feel better.

She shouldn’t second-guess what Ruby thought of her. If Ruby had ever thought of her that way, she probably would have known, right? She wouldn’t be sitting here wondering about every little interaction. She wouldn’t be stuck in this rut, feeling heartbroken about everything. She sure as hell wouldn’t be lamenting a love lost that she never had in the first place. But then again, Blake had thought they _were_ doing alright. She thought that there _was_ something. That’s why she’d gone and asked her out in the first place!

Before she knew it, it was evening. Blake soon found her room occupied by Weiss, Yang and Ruby, more or less in that order as they returned from the day’s activities. Ruby didn’t look at her as she came in, and despite the fact she didn’t want to herself, Blake looked at her. Seeing her happy and smiling like nothing had ever happened hurt even more than Ruby acknowledging that Blake had embarrassed herself and shot to pieces their friendship. A knock came at their door, and in came Pyrrha, dressed for what looked like a night on the town.

“Hey Ruby,” she said as she came in. “Ready?”

“Oh, yeah! I almost forgot!” In a flash, Ruby ran over to Pyrrha after grabbing her purse, waving them off and heading out the door in an instant.

_You don’t want to know,_ Blake told herself. _Don’t ask._ “What was that about?”

“I guess she and Pyrrha are going out tonight,” Yang said, shrugging. “Hope they’re not going to the south side, all the clubs there _suck._ ”

Blake bit her cheek, slamming her eyes shut as if that’d block out the visions of Pyrrha and Ruby doing everything she had imagined that _she_ would do with Ruby. _It’s probably nothing._ Just because two people were going somewhere didn’t mean they were dating. It didn’t always have to be some grand thing.

She felt a tear roll down her cheek. Before long, it hit her pillow, and unintentionally Blake rolled over, hiding herself from Weiss. Couldn’t let them know. Can’t let anyone in. Letting people in meant she would get hurt again, and she’d already been burned once today. It was better to close herself off, and stop anyone from ever getting in, rather than risk getting hurt.


End file.
